Vernon Mall

Admiral Edward Vernon (1684-1757) was a storied naval commander whose name
graces many streets and locations in this country. Vernon joined the English
Navy in 1700, and rose steadily in rank. He was appointed a member of Parliament
in 1722, and staunchly opposed the government of Sir Robert Walpole (1676-1745),
the head of the Whig party who is regarded as Great Britain's first prime minister.
Meanwhile, tensions were building between England and Spain, whose commercial
rivalry was becoming more than either power could bear. Vernon encouraged a
confrontation with Spain, and in 1739, Walpole gave way under pressure from
the House of Commons and finally declared war on Spain. Vernon's 1739 capture
of Portobello, a town in central Panama on the coast of the Caribbean Sea, won
him great popularity. In 1741, he led a joint expedition with the incompetent
General Wentworth against the Cartegena and Santiago de Cuba. The expedition
failed, a…